by TR Cameron
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Author Notes - TR Cameron
May 30, 2019
Seriously now, thank you.
Thank you for reading the fourth book in the Federal Agents of Magic series, and for continuing on to the author notes! I’ve been blown away by the reviews and comments about the first trio of books. I’m honored to be able to continue to share this story with you.
I had the distinct pleasure of finally meeting Martha Carr in the real world rather than the virtual one in May, and it was big fun. The author community that she and Michael Anderle have created around the Oriceran Universe is amazing to be a part of.
This book was a bear to write, for some reason. It might be because there were stories that needed closing, and others that needed opening, more than usual of both. It might be because I feel an increasing obligation to you to get these characters right. In any case, there was much more tinkering and editing this time around than in previous books. I hope the version that finally made it to you lived up to your expectations!
The next set of four books are going to be intense. More action, more tech, a couple more characters, big changes in the world. I can’t wait to share them with you.
We appear to have a family of bunnies living under one of the many shrubs and/or weeds that the previous owners of our house planted. It’s a joy to walk outside in the morning to take the kiddo to school and see one hanging out, or better, see two of the young ones chasing each other around. When I was in Chicago in May, I got an idea of what city living would be like, and while there’s certainly an appeal, I would definitely miss the wildlife.
This month includes a visit to my longest-tenured friend’s house with my daughter, which should be full of hiking, VR video gaming, and board games galore. It’s also our first multi-day road trip together in a while. I’m gleefully looking forward to it. I hope you have fun plans set for the upcoming season wherever you live!
Today I’m getting the broad strokes of books 5-8 down, and finalizing the plot moments for Book 5. Tomorrow (or maybe today) I start writing on that one. I’m pumped.
Kudos as always to Martha and the Oriceran team. Their work is phenomenal. When I saw the cover for this book, I was blown away by how gorgeous it is. Their passion for the process is phenomenal.
So, I did mention previously that plans and reality often fail to meet, and that was the case in this book. It was so packed with events that the Agents didn’t have time to add the support they desperately need. It’s my plan that they will in the next book, at least one agent and a tech. But, you know what they say about plans, they rarely survive enemy contact. So, we’ll see.
Quick media notes: I was not happy with the quick wrap-up of Game of Thrones. The writers let a lot of things they’d set up fall by the wayside without resolution, which frustrated everyone. I read the books before the show, and I’m looking forward to the official ending whenever GRRM gets around to it. Finished Brownstone (awesome!), caught up on CJ Cherryh’s Foreigner series (awesome!), and I have the latest Expanse book in my hands. I’m portioning it out slowly, chapter by chapter, to avoid doing no work while I binge the whole thing. I’m still looking forward to Watchmen on HBO, American Gods, Deadwood, and Good Omens. John Wick 3 was a lovely ballet of violence, but had substantially less plot than the two previous ones, which I didn’t really dig as an artistic choice. And Detective Pikachu was surprisingly fantastic. I only saw it for the kid. Really. Stop looking at me like that.
If you want to chat media, the books, or whatever else, I check in pretty often on Facebook. Just search TR Cameron Author to find me. Or, less reliably, [email protected].
Until next time, Joys upon joys to you and yours – so may it be.
Author Notes - Martha Carr
May 30, 2019
Lately, even bigger opportunities have been coming my way. (More on that later – we’re still building it) But growth – giant leaps of growth – can be scary and the past we thought we dealt with swings back by for another chat. The ‘what ifs’ pop up – I call those magical questions. There’s no possible answer to them.
When faced with opportunity, I’ve learned the best answer is a simple yes, and to keep going. But I was wondering if it could be possible to remove the anxiety so I could enjoy the ride more. Maybe even see more opportunities because I wasn’t so busy staring at the worries.
Time to be a little proactive. I’ve been checking out eye movement desensitization and reprocessing or EMDR for the past few months and the best way to describe it is personal growth on steroids. EMDR is a therapeutic device using sounds, light or tapping in a steady pulse while the person talks about a negative or traumatic event.
Normally, the brain doesn’t know if that horror movie you’re seeing is really happening or not, same with memories. Therefore, talking about a traumatic event can retraumatize the brain and lead nowhere. But for some reason, with EMDR, brain knows the difference and it’s possible to look at the same events from different angles, process it all and integrate it.
In other words, scale it back into proper perspective and put it away. We can stop filtering new decisions or opportunities through old events that aren’t actually happening now. I wanted to explore my ability to see myself as prosperous and as part of a team – but leading the charge instead of waiting for directions – and at ease with it all. I’m just about there but I know that being all the way there can make a difference in how things go for everyone.
If I’m in a good place then I don’t translate fear or misgivings and I look at setbacks as data and make adjustments and in general, just keep going. A lot of success in my life has been from just saying yes, doing the work, being open to change and that last part – I kept going. It’s gotten me into my dream house and living rather nicely, surrounded by great friends and family.
Why stop now? I’m headed into the last section of life – I turn 60 in September – and I want to keep creating and wondering what’s possible. Using EMDR as another tool to hack life, I’ve managed to grow calmer about just about everything. For me, it’s been replaced with a general sense of well being that everything is going to work out okay, and if it doesn’t, we’ll all face that together too.
My goal is for my 60’s to be the best years yet with a lot of getting to see fans in person and wait till you see what we’ve got in mind. It’s gonna be a lot of fun and I’m going to make sure I’m ready for all of it. More adventures to follow.
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
June 12, 2019
THANK YOU for not only reading this story but these Author Notes as well.
(I think I’ve been good with always opening with “thank you.” If not, I need to edit the other Author Notes!)
RANDOM (sometimes) THOUGHTS?
I’m going to riff off of something TR spoke about in his Author Notes.
I have never watched the Game of Thrones (or read the books) so I don’t have a lot of emotional investment in whether they got the ending right or not. However, I watched a lot of people who WERE invested and by and large, they weren’t happy.
I decided to query my wife (who was a fan) about it, and weeks later she still had some heat in her voice about the lack of a good resolution.
(For the record, she didn’t find that the sister seceding and it becoming the 6 Kingdoms was very true to the world experience. Further, she thought having the climax war resolve so early in the last season made it hard to gain the same energy as before the war when ‘Winter Is Coming.’)
The only thing that I’ve had happen for me personally was the Avengers: Endgame movie. I personally hated the cliffhanger and left that movie pretty annoyed.
Now, I’ve admitted that I did go see the resolution (Endgame) on the first weekend when the movie
opened here in America, BUT - I think I did it more from wanting a night out and the movie looked pretty cool. (Plus, my annoyance was softened with time. If that movie had been out a month after Avengers 3 I would have probably skipped it.)
I think I have the same opinion for both Marvel and the team who did Game Of Thrones. Until both teams did what they accomplished, (one for the big screen, the other for television) I don’t believe we had seen the sheer scope and audacity to put down the money bets HBO and Marvel (Disney) did with those projects.
My hats off to both of them for trying something completely different.
Except, I think Marvel got it ‘more’ right if you look at the fan comments post last movie / show.
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
One of the interesting (at least to me) aspects of my life is the ability to work from anywhere and at any time. In the future, I hope to re-read my own Author Notes and remember my life as a diary entry.
Hwy 287 - Driving through Claude, TX on way to Amarillo. (Yes, I do plan on going to the restaurant with the 72 oz steak challenge. No, I don’t plan on even trying to finish a 18 oz steak with the fixings.)
The sun is burning my stomach up as it heats the black shirt I have on (admittedly not a great choice). I believe my stomach is probably burnt red right now - I’m scared to look.
There are hundreds of tall electrical windmills up here in the Texas Panhandle and I personally think it looks cool. My author mind is looking at the massive posts with wicked sharp looking blades imagining what it might look like if it was post apocalyptic 100 years from now?
Would the dust and dirt lock them in place? Would some storms possibly break them, their parts laying against the bent over polls?
Or, would we hear the screetch screetch screetch as the large blades turn round and round in the wind, powering nothing as they continue to work as designed…
With no houses around that need the power.
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Other series in the Oriceran Universe:
SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC
SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC: RAINE CAMPBELL
ALISON BROWNSTONE
THE DANIEL CODEX SERIES
THE LEIRA CHRONICLES
I FEAR NO EVIL
FEDERAL AGENTS OF MAGIC
THE UNBELIEVABLE MR. BROWNSTONE
REWRITING JUSTICE
THE KACY CHRONICLES
MIDWEST MAGIC CHRONICLES
SOUL STONE MAGE
THE FAIRHAVEN CHRONICLES
OTHER BOOKS BY JUDITH BERENS
OTHER BOOKS BY MARTHA CARR
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